The Crazy Mercenary Commander Goes to Work in the Entertainment Industry

Translator: Dreamscribe

The defenses of Sato Shota, who had been on edge and guarding against everything, collapsed all at once. Face flushed red, Sato Shota backed away.

The line Jae-ha had tossed out, out of nowhere, into that heavy atmosphere. Asking whether Sato Shota was a Hardcore Fan of Kamijo Yuu. Naturally the flustered Shota hurriedly denied it, but for some reason Kang Jae-ha glanced once at Ha Yeon-ji and grew even more certain.

Because he'd run a lie detection through Ha Yeon-ji's 'Ability'.

So Sato Shota's frantic denial and excuses were exposed as lies in an instant, and Shota, who had no way of knowing that, short-circuited on the spot and started stammering.

"N-no, it's not. If you're going to keep saying weird things, I'm, I'm leaving."

Of course he was. He'd just heard something completely out of the blue. But those words also happened to be the truth Sato Shota had kept hidden for over a decade. Then Ha Yeon-ji looked at Shota and spoke to Kang Jae-ha with her eyes.

'Isn't he cute? His mouth says no while his face is flat-out telling us we got it right.'

Legs crossed, Kang Jae-ha spoke to the creaking Sato Shota.

"Sato Shota, you must have known since Kamijo Yuu's Mercenary Corps days that she was a famous actress in Japan. And you were already a Hardcore Fan back then."

"......"

"But you didn't make a fuss about it. You pretended not to know her. Figured that was better for Kamijo Yuu, I suppose, for adjusting to the Other World or whatever. That was how you protected her as a Hardcore Fan. Anyway, you got through the whole thing without letting a single thing show, and the moment you came back to this world, the first person you looked for was Kamijo Yuu."

Kang Jae-ha, wearing the changed face, laid out his guesses dryly and calmly.

"Luckily Kamijo Yuu came back to this world just like you did, without any real trouble, and once you were relieved, you've been watching over her from that day until now. Never stepping in front of her here either, quietly, still as a Hardcore Fan. And then I showed up. Nothing happened for almost a year, and then a Mercenary Corps colleague suddenly latches on. No wonder you were startled."

Watching Jae-ha lay out a story he had never told anyone, Shota's eyes went wide, and as his panic mounted, Kang Jae-ha gave him a faint smile.

"That organization you mentioned, there's not a damn thing like that. That was just a bluff to scare me. You haven't met a single colleague other than Kamijo Yuu up to now. I'm the first."

"......"

Sato Shota barely managed to drag his malfunctioning brain back to normal. Listening to the guy sitting in front of him had calmed him down somewhat.

'More to the point, how the hell does this bastard know all of that??'

Every last detail was correct.

'This guy's genuinely dangerous. Way more than I thought.'

Sizing up the situation, Sato Shota thought, should I just make a run for it? At that moment Jae-ha called out to him again.

"Sato Shota, I said this over the phone, but I'll say it again. That protecting Kamijo Yuu of yours, try doing it officially instead of off the books."

"......Right, you said that on the phone too. Stop doing it in secret and do it out in the open."

"That's right."

In that instant, irritation surged up in Sato Shota. To hell with running. Sato Shota decided he'd get some kind of answer here and now.

"That's enough. Whether or not she gets protected isn't up to me, and it isn't up to you either. Who are you to tell me to protect Kamijo Yuu or not?"

"Me? I'm the Commander."

"...What?"

Sato Shota's brow furrowed, and Kang Jae-ha uncrossed his legs and rose smoothly from the bench. Then he lightly swept a hand across his face. Removing the mask he'd been wearing. In an instant Kang Jae-ha went from face A back to his original face.

He met the eyes of Shota standing before him once more and opened his mouth.

"I said, the Commander."

Watching Kang Jae-ha's face change in a single stroke, Sato Shota froze for a second time.

"......!!"

It was real. The Commander of the Mercenary Corps he had served in as Interrogator for over a decade was standing right in front of him. Mouth slightly open, Sato Shota felt a jolt run through his entire body. Not quite a shudder. Whenever he saw the Commander, it had always been like this for Shota.

'Those pitch-black eyes you can't read a single emotion in, that air like he'll rip your throat out at any second. It's, it's really him.'

It was the same as the way the body prickles at the sight of a vicious predator. Sato Shota abruptly bowed his head to Kang Jae-ha. Instinct got there before reason. Quite a lot of time had passed, but his body remembered.

Kang Jae-ha gripped the shoulder of the bowing Sato Shota and murmured.

"You always greeted me like that."

"C-Commander? What's going on??"

Just as Shota shot him a look that said he still didn't understand, the familiar woman's voice rang in both Kang Jae-ha's and Shota's ears.

【Comrade encounter confirmed.】

【The comrade (subordinate) has awakened thanks to Kang Jae-ha-nim's achievement of the Other World objective.】

As always, the woman's voice delivered a warning to the comrade (subordinate) along with the guidance.

【'Absolute Obedience' is now applied to the comrade (subordinate) who has encountered the Commander, toward Kang Jae-ha.】

【Should the comrade (subordinate) commit betrayal, treason, or similar acts against the Commander, it will be regarded as a violation of the applied 'Absolute Obedience', resulting in death.】

Sure enough, once the woman's voice finished reeling off its various announcements and capped it all with a cheer, Sato Shota's bewilderment only grew. To him, eyes wide, Kang Jae-ha offered a smile as if to say not to worry.

"I'll say this up front. 'Absolute Obedience' is never going to be the death of you."

In any case, the woman's voice had proven it all over again. That the man standing in front of him really was the Commander. Turning serious, Sato Shota spat out the conclusion he'd arrived at.

"......You changed your face with some kind of 'Ability' and met me that way?"

Kang Jae-ha nodded and answered in Japanese.

"That's right. Mm, I met Kamijo Yuu recently too, and you cut in partway through, so I switched faces and kept an eye on you for a bit."

"So at the cafe as well."

"That was me too."

"...Good grief. So I was warning the Commander to be careful, to watch himself?"

"Don't worry about it. You didn't know it was me."

"T-that's true, but- geez."

Jae-ha then briefly explained how things had gone from the moment he'd first encountered Shota up to now. Hearing it, Sato Shota let out a long sigh, as if all the strength had drained out of him.

"Haa...... It's astonishing, but I'm relieved. That the one who met Kamijo Yuu was you, Commander."

Watching that fierce glare of Shota's dissolve all at once, Kang Jae-ha snorted a laugh.

"You really are a proper Hardcore Fan."

Shota scratched his head, embarrassed.

"Please keep it a secret. Have mercy on me."

"Sure, whatever. Why would I go around blabbing something like that?"

Kang Jae-ha told Ha Yeon-ji, standing beside him, as well.

"Don't tell the others either."

"Obviously. You can't sully a man's pure devotion. Especially not to that Lee Chan-hoo."

"Sato Shota, this is Ha Yeon-ji. You know who she is, obviously."

Eyes crinkling into a smile, Ha Yeon-ji spoke in clumsy Japanese and waved at Shota.

"I've got a new respect for you. It's not easy keeping that up for over a decade, not one or two years."

"No, well, mm. More importantly, Ha Yeon-ji? That thing where you saw through my lie earlier, is that your 'Ability' or something?"

Instead of answering, Ha Yeon-ji simply smiled. This was a habit from her days in the Scout Unit. Never giving anyone an answer. Except the Commander, of course. And that Commander, Kang Jae-ha, sat back down on the bench.

"You sit too."

He said it to Shota, who took the seat beside him.

"I've already got it figured out, but explain it in your own words. Your relationship with Kamijo Yuu."

This was less about double-checking than about making Sato Shota deliver the briefing with his own mouth. Only by saying it himself could the last of the shell be peeled away.

"Mm-"

Shota hummed for a moment, then went on.

"Before I was taken to the Other World, I watched Kamijo Yuu's films and drew a great deal of comfort from them. A lot of bad things had happened to me. My interest grew that way, and I became a fan. Saying I'm a fan out loud is honestly... a little mortifying."

"It's fine. Go on."

"Yes. At first it was just a casual fan sort of feeling, so I only went looking for the works she appeared in. Then my feelings grew and I came to root for her in earnest."

"And then one day you were thrown into the Other World."

"Yes. That's about the size of it. When you brought Kamijo Yuu into the Mercenary Corps by the hand, Commander, I honestly...... nearly had my eyeballs pop out. I still remember exactly how I felt that day."

The rest of Shota's explanation matched Jae-ha's guesses almost point for point.

"After coming back to this side, just as you said, Commander, I kept watching over Kamijo Yuu from behind the scenes."

Kang Jae-ha did not tell Sato Shota about Kamijo Yuu's attempt to take her own life. That incident did neither of them any good. Having wrapped up his briefing, Sato Shota asked the Commander a question.

"It's surprising enough that you're a person from this world, Commander...... but how did you come to meet Kamijo Yuu in the first place?"

"Meeting her was just coincidence."

"Coincidence."

"Yeah. I'm running a company called 'MEG' these days."

Bringing up 'MEG' as naturally as anything, Kang Jae-ha filled Shota in on this and that. The road ahead for 'MEG', the subordinates gathered so far, what 'MEG' actually did, the blueprint for the future, and of course the recently acquired Japan Branch of 'MEG'. Sato Shota couldn't hide his astonishment.

"C-Commander, a manager...... and you've even built a Mercenary Corps on this side."

Looking at Jae-ha's composed face, Sato Shota laughed, a little hollowly.

"So Kamijo Yuu was in the safest place in the world. With her comrades."

Seeing straight through his heart, Kang Jae-ha answered in a low voice.

"That was only possible because you quietly watched over her. You never let it show, but you must have been doing things that helped her."

"Trivial things."

"A trivial lapse can lead to death."

"......Treat the trivial as if it were grave. You haven't changed a bit, Commander."

Kang Jae-ha shrugged plainly and said to Sato Shota.

"That offer I made earlier, I meant it."

"Sorry?"

"For you to protect Kamijo Yuu. Officially, not unofficially."

"Ah."

"You're running a Detective Office right now?"

"How do you even know that-"

He was surprised, but the man across from him was Commander Kang Jae-ha. Resolving not to let anything shock him anymore, Sato Shota answered.

"Yes, that's right."

"Quit it and join us as part of 'MEG'. And protect Kamijo Yuu officially at the same time."

"And I'd be under your protection, Commander."

"Of course. It's not an order, though. It's your choice. Don't worry about that 'Absolute Obedience' the woman's voice mentioned either. You have the right to live however you want."

Sato Shota decided without a single second of hesitation.

"If anything, I'm the one asking you, Commander. I don't care if I'm at the very bottom of your subordinates."

Afterward.

Now officially part of 'MEG', Sato Shota bowed to Kang Jae-ha again, quite formally. It had the feel of asking to be treated well, but Jae-ha waved him off.

"Don't overdo it. I told you not to greet me like that back in the Mercenary Corps too."

"It puts my mind at ease. Haha."

The two went on trading words in Japanese, and Shota tossed out a question.

"But Commander, how exactly am I supposed to protect Kamijo Yuu?"

"A Hardcore Fan through and through. That's the first thing you go for?"

The corner of Kang Jae-ha's mouth lifted faintly as he murmured.

"Well, I intend to keep Kamijo Yuu working as an actress. Under MEG's Japan Branch. You'd fit well as Kamijo Yuu's official guard, as part of the Japan Branch Security Team. Close Protection. Sounds good?"

"Thank you."

Shota bowed his head again. Kang Jae-ha, meanwhile, rose from the bench.

"Let's go. You need to say hello to the others."

"Sorry??"

Taking along a baffled Sato Shota, Kang Jae-ha headed for 'MEG'. Not MEG's office, but the meeting room next to it. When the meeting room door opened, a whole crowd of comrades welcomed Sato Shota. Lee Chan-hoo and Cha Chung-hyeon waved simply.

"Welcome."

"Hey-"

Go Chun-seok and Ryu Hyuk greeted him rather formally.

"Long time no see."

"Good to see you."

Choi Ri-na, however, who hadn't known Sato Shota existed at all, shot up to a fever pitch first.

"Whoa!! The Interrogator! The Interrogator!!"

Next was Kamijo Yuu, covering her mouth with both hands in surprise.

"It's amazing, how the comrades just keep gathering like this."

Sato Shota stared at her for a long beat, then greeted the comrades. In Japanese, of course.

"It's been a while. My name in this world is Sato Shota. I look forward to working with all of you."

Kamijo Yuu, who had no idea he'd been protecting her from behind for nearly a year, was startled.

"......Sato Shota?? You were Japanese??!"

*****

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